Chapter 733: End of the Recruitment!
"Time is up."
At that moment, Daoist Scarlet Brow spoke.
His expression was calm as he said, "A total of one thousand three hundred and fifty-eight people have successfully passed this Recruitment Convention. Congratulations to all of you for becoming outer sect disciples of our Profound Origin Immortal Sect."
As he spoke, he waved his hand, and nearly a thousand more cultivators were teleported away.
These were the cultivators who had been eliminated in the comprehension ability test.
Contrary to everyone’s expectations, Li Yun was not among them.
Not only that, ripples appeared on the Candidate Elite List. Then, the name at the very top changed from Fan Wuhen to Li Yun.
"What is going on?"
"Not only was Li Yun not eliminated, but he also became first on the Candidate Elite List?"
"I protest. This is cheating. There must be something fishy going on."
This scene caused many cultivators’ expressions to change.
Those who had been sneering and mocking earlier were especially agitated. Their faces twisted, and they began shouting and making a fuss.
"Silence."
Daoist Scarlet Brow snorted coldly.
"Do you really think Li Yun remained in the Enlightenment Space until now? All of you, watch closely."
As he spoke, he waved his hand grandly, and the Enlightenment Stone rapidly shrank before flying directly into his sleeve.
At that moment, Li Yun still wore a frowning and pensive expression, looking exactly as if he were still within the Enlightenment Space.
"This..."
This scene immediately caused everyone to show expressions of doubt and uncertainty.
Those who had been shouting the loudest felt a sense of foreboding rise in their hearts.
Sure enough, in the next moment, Daoist Scarlet Brow said coldly, "Li Yun actually passed the trial of the Enlightenment Space half an hour ago. The reason he looks like this is simply because he gained deeper insights."
Buzz!
Daoist Scarlet Brow’s voice exploded like thunder in everyone’s minds, causing a violent jolt.
Then, expressions of extreme awkwardness appeared on many faces.
They had deluded themselves into thinking that Li Yun’s comprehension ability was extremely poor.
But in reality, Li Yun had already successfully passed the trial of the Enlightenment Space half an hour ago, and his comprehension had left them far behind.
Those who had shouted the loudest earlier felt their faces burn with stinging pain, as if they had been slapped several times.
Whoosh!
At that moment, Li Yun’s figure suddenly moved.
With his eyes closed, as if unconscious, he swung his sword.
This sword swing was slow and light, seemingly just a casual strike.
Yet at this moment, everyone present felt a strange sensation, as if this sword was aimed directly at them.
Not only that, although this sword seemed plain, it gave them an overwhelming sense that they could not resist. It felt as if their bodies had been frozen, leaving them only able to watch helplessly as the sword approached.
"This..."
For a moment, shock and awe filled everyone’s eyes.
This sword held no killing intent, and it was merely Li Yun’s unconscious strike.
If he controlled it intentionally, how terrifying would it be?
This level of swordsmanship completely exceeded their imagination. Even Fan Wuhen and Bai Xueya’s expressions changed drastically.
If they had to face this sword with equal strength, then unless they used certain trump cards, even they were not confident they could block it.
"Such powerful swordsmanship. Is this the move he just comprehended?"
At this moment, everyone felt a chill in their hearts. Their gazes toward Li Yun could not help becoming extremely grave.
Hearing something was one thing, but seeing it with their own eyes was another.
No matter what Daoist Scarlet Brow had said before, it could not compare to the intense impact of personally witnessing Li Yun’s sword strike.
"No, if I want to fuse the Mountain River Sword Art into Slow Sword, it should not be done this way..."
At this moment, Li Yun also snapped out of his trance-like state.
He murmured to himself, "On the surface, the Mountain River Sword Art seems like the fusion of stillness and motion. But in truth, its real core is the sense of space created by the fusion of movement and stillness."
"And fast and slow can also create a sense of space. Therefore, my direction should be to use this sense of space as a pivot to fuse the two sword techniques together."
He opened his eyes, still feeling some regret in his heart.
Although the power of that sword strike just now was decent and much stronger than pure fastness or pure Slow Sword, he had taken the wrong path.
Once one walked the wrong path, it had to be corrected no matter how powerful it appeared. Otherwise, one would only stray further and further until there was no chance left to turn back.
"Hm?"
Suddenly, Li Yun regained his senses and saw a sea of shocked faces before him.
This sight startled him slightly.
Why were all these people staring at him?
"Li Yun, kid, you have finally awakened."
Daoist Scarlet Brow said with a smile.
Although Li Yun’s sword strike just now was insignificant to him, it was already quite impressive for someone of Li Yun’s strength to achieve such a level.
Although this kid would not become a disciple of Myriad Manifestation Peak, as long as Li Yun was a disciple of the Profound Origin Immortal Sect, that was enough.
Daoist Scarlet Brow had a premonition.
It would not be long before this rising star named Li Yun ascended rapidly within the Profound Origin Immortal Sect.
"My apologies for keeping everyone waiting."
Li Yun quickly reacted and immediately cupped his fists, apologizing to the crowd.
"It is fine."
Daoist Scarlet Brow spoke up.
Although he was not the strongest among those present, as the host of this Recruitment Convention, it was still his duty to handle the formalities.
He said, "Next, I will announce the rankings for this Recruitment Convention."
Undoubtedly, first place on the Candidate Elite List naturally belonged to Li Yun.
Fan Wuhen and Bai Xueya followed closely behind him.
Fourth place went to Chu Yuan.
He was a typical example of a latecomer surpassing the others. Before the Recruitment Convention began, no one could have imagined that he would achieve such a high ranking.
Of course, the biggest dark horse of this Recruitment Convention was undoubtedly Li Yun.
Fifth place was Yun Canglan.
Having dropped from third to fifth, Yun Canglan’s expression was clearly unpleasant. However, as a scion of a great family, he quickly regained his composure.
As for what thoughts were hidden beneath his calm surface, outsiders naturally had no way of knowing.
Xuan Long of the Black Wyrm Dynasty remained in eighth place.
Overall, the sixty selected elite disciples were basically the top sixty cultivators from the Candidate Elite List, but this was not absolute.
This was because Free Wander Peak among the Six Great Peaks primarily focused on alchemy, artifact refinement, and the Dao of Formations. Its evaluation criteria differed from the other five peaks, which led to some exceptions.
As for Zhu Heng, he fell far short of becoming an elite disciple.
However, he was already very satisfied to have passed the trial and become an outer sect disciple.